Most versatile binos??

[Jtelarkin08]

I'm really in need of new binos. I have set a goal of shooting the super 10 with my bow in the next 5-10 years. So I will be doing a wide range of hunting with lots if different terrains. I'm looking at the razor hd but should I get 8x42 or 10x42???

I'm also looking at the 50 mm razor hd spotting scope also.

 

[Daniel_M]

Don't discount the 12x50's. I have very minimal time pearking through Lukes binos several weeks back but my eyeballs were very, very impressed and I tote Swaro 10x42's. Enough so to warrant further research on Vortex Optics. There may be a change in my future.

 

[HellsCanyon]

Don't discount the 12x50's. I have very minimal time pearking through Lukes binos several weeks back but my eyeballs were very, very impressed and I tote Swaro 10x42's. Enough so to warrant further research on Vortex Optics. There may be a change in my future.

I've been running my 12x50s since last spring and they are awesome. I doubt I'll ever go back to a 10x42. If I ever get back into elk hunting I may get a pair of 8x42's but the 12's are just phenomenal. Lightweight, good FOV, clear crisp. Very happy with mine and think I will be for a few years to come.

That said I do hunt some very big country...
Mike

 

[Jtelarkin08]

90% of my hubting is whitetail. That us the main reason I don't think I need 12x

My hunt plans are as listed

2014-caribou haul rd.i provably need pretty good glass for this trip. Maybe 10x and spotter

Bear- glass isn't that important I don't think.

2015- Alaska moose float trip not sure on glass for this trip.

Antelope, mt goat and sheep all need good binos

Bison and cougar don't need real high power I would guess

Elk 8x would probably be best


I guess it's kinda a toss up. I think 12x are to much for me tho. I rarely go on hunts I can see further than 300 yards.

 

[2rocky]

I think 10x is the best for 90% of the places most of us us hunt.

 

[Jtelarkin08]

I think 10x is the best for 90% of the places most of us us hunt.

With that being said do you go with the 10x42 or 10x50

 

[Daniel_M]

If youre hunting Alaska, you're hunting big country and animals that require no shit positive ID. To that, sexing caribou and counting brow tines and in many cases, in a low light scenario. Lukes 12x50's kicked my Swaro 10x42's ass hands down when he spotted a sow and 2 cubs in low light, foggy conditions that I couldn't pick out at all.

MSRP on the 12x50's vs 10x42's is only $200 more and 4oz heavier. You come out ahead with low light capability.

 

[jarheadhunter]

I think 10x42 vs 10x50 you will have to weigh your options. 10x42 is what I have always carried.
Here is the specs on the two. Your gaining 4 oz of weight and loosing 47' in your FOV for I am guessing a little difference in light gathering.

10x50 16.5 mm 10' 315' / 6.0° 57-74 mm 6.8 x 5.1" 28.1 oz
10x42 16.5 mm 6' 362' / 6.9° 55-75 mm 5.9 x 5.1" 24.8 oz

 

[Jtelarkin08]

If youre hunting Alaska, you're hunting big country and animals that require no shit positive ID. To that, sexing caribou and counting brow tines and in many cases, in a low light scenario. Lukes 12x50's kicked my Swaro 10x42's ass hands down when he spotted a sow and 2 cubs in low light, foggy conditions that I couldn't pick out at all.

MSRP on the 12x50's vs 10x42's is only $200 more and 4oz heavier. You come out ahead with low light capability.

All I do is bow hunt. So surely I can count tines with the 10x at under 60 yards

 

[Daniel_M]

All I do is bow hunt. So surely I can count tines with the 10x at under 60 yards

Sure but in many cases, your starting out at a much greater distance. I don't like advancing on game that I can't kill. The benefits outweigh cost in this scenario.

 

[colonel00]

^^^Yep, before you cross a drainage in the mountains or set out across the tundra, you had better know you are going after an animal that is legal and a shooter in your mind. Otherwise you are going to spend a lot of time and energy chasing fuzzy dots just to find out they aren't what you thought they were.

 

[Jtelarkin08]

Sure but in many cases, your starting out at a much greater distance. I don't like advancing on game that I can't kill. The benefits outweigh cost in this scenario.

I'm not worried about the cost at all. I'm worried about the fact that 90% of my hubting I can't see more than 200 yards. All my deer hunting is this way. I agree it would be nice in Alaska. But I have yet to go to Alaska and when I do go it will be 2-3 trips in the next 10 years. I am waning a pair of binos that will work well here where I live as well as for my hunts that I am planning

 

[Highcountry_Hellrazor]

10X42 Swaro EL's and you'll never need to upgrade imo.

 

[boom]

With that being said do you go with the 10x42 or 10x50

i carry 10x50's. (different brand than Vortex).

if i were to do it all over again, i drop down to the 42's. the physical size of the binos are just easier to live with in the long run. lighter, smaller..and in turn the bino case would be smaller and lighter. i dont think my eyes could tell if i left anything on the table with the smaller glass.

i brought my binos to work today. i have to read a tiny crack movement gauge about 20 feet in the air. curious to see if this works out.

 

[jarheadhunter]

10x42 swaro el's and you'll never need to upgrade imo.

amen

 

[luke moffat]

10X42 Swaro EL's and you'll never need to upgrade imo.

While these are good and I used a set for 2 years....they are not the end all be all IMO and there are better bang for your buck binos out there....alteast to my eyes. That and you can get a decent spotter AND a decent set of binos for the price of the ELs. Trust me I've been down both roads. They are awesome binos, but also A LOT of $$$.

 

[tstowater]

While these are good and I used a set for 2 years....they are not the end all be all IMO and there are better bang for your buck binos out there....alteast to my eyes. That and you can get a decent spotter AND a decent set of binos for the price of the ELs. Trust me I've been down both roads. They are awesome binos, but also A LOT of $$$.

This is kinda like the Kifaru pack argument. Frankly, I have used the ELs since 2004. Bit the bullet and didn't look back. Isn't that what everyone says about the Kifaru packs? I was shocked on how I was picking up animals this fall with the ELs. I spotted some desert sheep at a distance that I still can't believe. The oryx stood out like neon signs. I won't say that there isn't better glass out there, but the ELs set the bar pretty high.

 

[Matt Cashell]

I use 10X42 usually, but for your uses I would recommend the 8X42. Plenty of magnification for all around use, and easier to hold steady freehand.

High magnification doesn't equate to superior performance in the field, necessarily, although it is helpful in some scenarios.

8X42s will give you some low light brightness over comparable 10X42s and 12X50s as well.

 

[squeekieslayer]

Studies have shown that the human eye, when glassing free hand, has the best resolution with 8X binos. We cannot physically hold 10X still enough to get the same resolution. That said, I still run 10X because 90% of the time I am glassing while sitting an can prop on my knees and I have never noticed a problem. I have tried a friends 12X and they were significantly harder to use, I would say if you were moving slow through brush trying to pick out thing in front of you , you would be doomed with 12X.

It seems to me that some people are condoning a 12X bino in places where a decent spotter would be the proper piece of equipment. Yes, you my be able to count tines slightly better with 12X than 10, but you are going to be much better at 15-40 power.

I would say that for what you are looking to do, a 10X42 and a good spotting scope would be your best bet.

PS try the Zeiss Victory HT before you buy anything... if price is not an issue, I have never looked through glass I like as much as the HT's

Joe

 

[Jtelarkin08]

I ended up going with a pair of vortex razor HD 10x42.. I knew right off i didnt need the 12x but i couldnt decide on the 8x or 10x.. I went with the 10x bc the only time i will be glassing is sitting down in a blind where i can get steady with them or on the side of a ridge when i can get steady.. I may throw them up once in a while off hand but very rarely.. I also think with the 10x they will work from texas to alaska.. Thanks for the imput guys